Category: Faith

Jesus mentions many times in scripture that if you ask for anything in his name that it WILL be given to you.

“Ask and it will be given to you: seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” -Matthew 7:7-8

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” -Mark 11:24

But what exactly does he mean? Can I just ask for a million dollars, really believe it, and he’ll give it to me?

Well, not exactly…

You see, when you read the Bible as a whole you get the whole picture.

Take what Paul says in Romans 8:5, “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.”

Jesus even said in John 15:7, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”

When you live for Jesus and the Spirit lives in you, you’ll be asking what the Spirit wants for you, not what you want for yourself. You’ll be in line with God’s will for your life.

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” -Romans 12:2

When you renew your mind with the Spirit, you are aligning your life for what God wants for you. So you will then be asking what he wants for your life!

You’re living for HIM, not yourself.

Have your mind set on what the Spirit desires and God will give you everything you ask!

“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” -Psalm 37:4

So this past Saturday I was at a Bible Study, and one of the things that kept coming up from someone was that they believe you have to be a good person to get to Heaven. They feel you need to do good works to get in.

But that’s not so.

You do not get to Heaven by your good works, but it is by the grace of God that you get into Heaven, through Jesus Christ.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” -Ephesians 2:8-9

As I was sitting there listening, God put this analogy into my head…

Heaven is like a huge gated community. While outside the gates you’re doing your good deeds (re: works). For every good deed you do you get a key to put on your key ring. Now you do these good deeds throughout your life, and one you come to the end of the road you may have many keys or a few keys. It all depends on the works you did throughout your life.

Now some will say they did many good deeds and are sure to get into Heaven, their key ring is bursting with keys so they know that one of their keys will unlock the gates to Heaven. Some of them even look down on the ones who have few keys, boasting about their many keys.

Anywho, the one with many keys starts sticking them in the gate one by one. None of them seem to be working, but no worries… he has many more keys to go right? Surely one of these keys will fit?

So he keeps trying one after another and none of them are working.

Now the man is starting to get a little nervous, sweating even. It’s been hours and hours trying all these different keys and he’s down to his last few.

Meanwhile, the man with a few keys never once tries to open the gates of Heaven with his few keys. Instead, he starts talking to the guards and then points to a man he knows. This man, named Jesus, tells the guards to let him through because that is his friend. So the guards let him through and Jesus welcomes him with open arms into Heaven!

Now back to the man with many keys, he tries his last key and nothing, nada, zip. It’s the end of the road. None of his keys could unlock the gates of Heaven.

But wait… he’s able to see through the gates. What’s that he sees? It’s the man with few keys. But how?!

Surely this man had more keys, so his chances were 1,000 times better right?

Hey… wait a second. The man with many keys sees the man with few keys taking out his little key ring and he starts unlocking things… it looks to be treasures! TREASURES!!! All of the keys are working.

The man with many keys can’t make any sense of it. Here he is outside of the gates of Heaven looking in… and the man with few keys is using all his keys to unlock the treasures on the inside.

So what went wrong with the man with many keys? Did he not do enough good deeds and collect enough keys?

Of course not! No matter how much he worked he would have never be able to work enough to get a key that opens up the gates of Heaven.

You see, the man with few keys knew something… He knew no matter how many key she had that none of them would open up the gates to Heaven. He knew the secret… and the secret is Jesus.

Jesus says: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19-20).

You see, Jesus is the ONLY way to open up the gates of Heaven.

Jesus IS the KEY

But the works you do here on Earth will be rewarding in Heaven.

But without Jesus you’ll never know what treasures are in store for you… You’ll have a bunch of keys, but no locks to put them in to.

Just remember, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” -Ephesians 2:8-9

So yesterday, I was leaving my Bible Study downtown and headed to the parking garage to go to my car. As I was approaching my car I noticed a huge truck parked right next to my car.

Funny thing was… there were a ton of free spots open, but the driver of this big truck decided to park next to my car… and not only park next to my car, but park so close to my car that I had to squeeze my way into the driver seat without banging my door.

Now, remember, I just got out of Bible Study, but… I couldn’t help but think bad thoughts. I thought how I would have loved to just bang my door against his truck… key his truck… even take the air out of his tires! But, I know that would have been wrong.

You know… it really ruined my drive home because that is all I could think about (I guess that’s the ‘worldly issues’ going on in my life that I need to take control of).

Anywho, as I got home I ended up reading my evening devotional from the Duck Commander (yeah, I’m goofy like that).

What was the title of the devotional I was reading… it was Love Your Enemies with the following passage:

“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” -Romans 12:17-19

Oh how I needed that! How God listens and takes care of the ones he loves and how He speaks to me!

Instantly, my bad thoughts turned to joy. This little ordeal was just that… a little ordeal of nothingness.

Just remember, God is always there to take care of you. Even when evil strikes, our Father in Heaven will be there with you.

“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” -Luke 6:27-28

A couple weeks ago I received a daily devotional from Rick Warren in his Daily Hope teachings.

It was about goals. And not just making up goals, but setting goals up in Faith.

Rick Warren says, “You exercise faith by setting goals. You set a goal when you say, ‘God, I believe you’re telling me that you want me to accomplish this by a particular date. It’s really going to stretch me to do it, but I believe this is what I need to do.’”

“According to your faith will it be done to you.” -Matthew 9:29

So, what are goals set in FAITH?

Focused: It’s specific, something you can measure.

Attainable: It’s possible and practical. If you set an unrealistic goal, you won’t accomplish it.

Individual: It’s personal. You can’t set goals for other people. You have ownership over your own goals, not someone else’s.

Trackable: Your goal needs a deadline on it. Without a date on it, it’s not a goal.

Heartfelt: Never set a goal you’re not passionate about, because you will never accomplish it without the desire to do so.

I just love it!

If you have dreams, then set make them GOALS in FAITH and let God do wonders with your life!

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?” -Luke 14:28